The Young Widow and the Taciturn Stonemason

[Complete]

Hui Niang is a young widow in Huawu Village. Her favorite thing is sitting by her courtyard gate, cracking sunflower seeds.

She wears beautiful embroidered shoes and paints her lips a vivid red.

Her pair of peach-blossom eyes always seem to hold a teasing little hook.

She never has to plow her family's paddy fields herself.

*

Wei Shi is the stonemason of Huawu Village, and he's as dull as his name suggests.

He doesn't like talking or spending time with people.

And because he's lame, he's never managed to find a wife.

Two people who could hardly be less connected

Then, one day, out of nowhere,

some shameless rascal went to eavesdrop outside Hui Niang's room.

A coy, enticing voice came from inside, sounding reluctant yet inviting.

The eavesdropper stared in disbelief.

Well, would you look at that. He seemed to have stumbled on one incredible secret.

[Little Scene]

One afternoon, Hui Niang sat at the village entrance, cracking sunflower seeds. Her red floral jacket made her skin look snow-white, and every passerby, man or dog, had to take a second look.

The dogs were one thing.

The men always got an earful from Hui Niang.

There was just one man she never snapped at, because he never looked at her either.

After failing to catch that man's eye for the 108th day in a row, Hui Niang couldn't take it anymore and stopped him.

"You've got all that brute strength. Ever think of putting it to use somewhere else?!"

Coming soon: Grassland Dog Training Diary

On her wedding night, Ruan Yu waited for him inside a yurt on the grasslands.

The grassland man lifted the tent flap, reeking of wine.

"So you're that delicate princess from Chang'an."

Ruan Yu answered honestly, "I'm not really a princess."

"But you're really spoiled, then? Hmph. I don't keep pampered women. Starting tomorrow, you'll serve my grandmother and learn to work from my elder sister. I'm not interested in women from Chang'an, so we won't consummate the marriage."

A year later.

The man stormed into the bedroom and shouted, "Why can't I sleep with you again?! I've already finished all the chores!"

Ruan Yu raised her lovely eyes and gave him a sidelong glance. "Why are you shouting? Keep carrying on like that and you won't be allowed back in the bedroom at all."

The man immediately lost his nerve.

"Don't, sweetheart. I was wrong."

P.S.:

1. A short-to-medium-length story, currently building up a stockpile of chapters.

2. Focused on romance, with no complicated plot or hidden identities.

3. Both leads are each other's first and only.

Theme: Make your own way through hard work and independence